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Does Matt Green deserve second Championship chance with Bolton Wanderers?

Matt Green failed to make his mark at Birmingham City - but it appears he may be given another opportunity with newly-promoted Bolton Wanderers.

For every Jamie Vardy, there’s a Matt Green. A year after Leicester City plucked the little known striker from non-league Fleetwood Town, Green arrived at Birmingham City from Mansfield hoping to make a similar impact.

However, after a sluggish start saw him fall out of the matchday squad altogether, the forward suffered a cruciate ligament injury and spent around 12 months on the sidelines.

Two years after being handed his big break, Green was released after one goal in 10 Championship appearances and forced to start all over again.

Though, since returning to Mansfield, these days in League Two, the 30-year-old is rebuilding his reputation week by week. He’s scored 26 goals in two seasons since returning to Field Mill and, according to HITC sources, may have earned himself a second stab at Championship football.

It’s claimed that Bolton Wanderers, who secured automatic promotion from League One behind Sheffield United, are leading Plymouth Argyle and Portsmouth for the reborn goalscorer.

The question, however, is whether Green is worth the risk. To many Bolton fans, signing Adam Le Fondre instead would represent a far more reliable deal. After all, the nomadic goal poacher helped fire Bolton to promotion after arriving on loan from Cardiff City in January, easing the pain of Zach Clough’s departure to Nottingham Forest.

And he told the Bolton News that the chances of him returning to South Wales are slim at best. However, Le Fondre has a less than impressive record at Championship level in recent seasons.

Danny Owen

Daniel is a Journalist graduate from Leeds Trinity University and is generally obsessed with everything football related. Daniel watches everything from Augsburg in the Bundesliga to Vitesse in the Eredivisie with as much La Liga as possible thrown in for good measure.